So, this chapter and the next one count as a two-parter for an episodic event here.

Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.


Vesa and Fecto Elfilis accompanied Kirby and Elfilin to Capupu Village a couple days later. The human stared in awe at the sight of a decorative arch at the entrance to the town. Pennant banners in colors of yellow, orange and red draped along between the buildings. Venturing down the pavement, they noticed the resident cappies set up booths in the town square while Chef Osaka set up an outdoor grill. Kawasaki was still in the middle of relearning his cooking skills, so he took on the duty to help his teacher in moving ingredients from packages.

While the angelic lancer observed the culinary teacher and student sharing such a nostalgic bond through the relearning sessions, Kirby and Elfilin noticed as a few cappy kids scampering down the pavement, checking out the festival games. Hyness browsed the masks displaying at one stand while Flamberge and Fransisca were casually strolling. The fire mage paused when she spotted Zan Partizanne nearby while Fumu and Bun were wandering through the village.

"Hey, sis!" Flamberge called to the thunder mage, waving her hand, "over here!"

Zan blinked before she tilted her head towards her fiery sister.

"How have you been doing?" Zan asked, "things have been busy lately."

Fumu and Bun stayed close behind, the younger brother staring in awe at the spear Zan carried. When Flamberge approached the lightning mage, she made a brief glance at the two children.

"Who are the twerps?" Flamberge inquired, "the girl is your apprentice, right?"

Bun huffed in annoyance.

"Hey!" he called out, "you take that back!"

"And my point is proven," Flamberge shrugged, her eyes glittering with amusement.

Zan took a moment to adjust her hat.

"Their parents are busy," Zan explained, "so I'm accompanying them to the festival."

Fumu made a brief glance at Kirby and Elfilin.

"Oh, I see," Flamberge mused, playfully nudging her sister, "I thought you got paid to do magic stuff, not look after kids. I don't envy your job, though; I remember what we got up to as kids."

"So many fires," Zan shivered slightly.

"I know," Flamberge winked, "our childhood was great."

While Vesa and Elfilis stopped by a ring toss stand, Kirby turned to face Fumu and waved his arm.

"Poyo!"

Kirby scampered towards the kids with Elfilin following close behind.

"Oh, it's you again," Fumu greeted.

Fumu couldn't help but notice how short Kirby was compared to her, almost as if he could pass as a younger brother.

"Hi, Fumu!" Elfilin waved his paw, "hi, Bun!"

Bun waved back.

"Hey guys!"

Fumu, Bun, Kirby and Elfilin ran off, leaving Flamberge and Zan to chat by themselves for now. From there, the four browsed the games on each booth. All the while, Vesa nodded at the cappy hosting the ring toss game.

"Hello," Vesa smiled while waving her hand, "how much is each round?"

"There aren't any prizes so it's free to participate. This is just for fun."

Vesa double-checked the booth, noticing it didn't display any souvenirs.

"Oh, right," Vesa blurted.

The cappy reached into some drawers and handed two bundles of rings to both Vesa and Elfilis. She noticed how hers were red and her partner's were blue.

"Feel free to play as long as you want," the cappy proclaimed, "but you might need to take turns in case someone else wants to play."

"Ok," Vesa nodded.

The cappy set up the game on his end, several bottles arranged with numbers on them. Vesa gazed into her partner's eyes.

"I'll show you how it's done," she told them.

With one ring in her hand, Vesa aimed carefully before she tossed it at the arrangement of bottles. The ring snagged the neck of the bottle labeled 40 points before sliding down. She noticed as Elfilis stared intensely at the rings in their hand. They seemed to be concentrating so hard on…something.

"You want to go next?" Vesa asked.

Vesa took a step back.

"Of course," Elfilis nodded.

Elfilis tried to focus carefully before they threw their ring, but it missed and landed a foot away from the stand, their face reddening in embarrassment. Vesa frowned, remembering her partner had impeccable combat skills. She caught herself wondering why she expected the angelic lancer to make an accurate throw, even more so than her.

"Uhh," she stammered, "is something the matter?"

"I-I'm fine," Elfilis stuttered, one eye locking onto their girlfriend.

Vesa sighed as she placed her hand on their arm.

"Hey," she cooed, "you don't have to worry too much about winning or losing. It's just about having fun, ok?"

"I know," Elfilis told her, glancing away in shame, "I'm being rather foolish."

Vesa took a moment to examine the two rings left in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she aimed and threw one which landed at a bottle labeled 20 points. Elfilis took a moment to relax any restrictions they placed upon themselves before aiming one ring at a 30 point bottle. Vesa smiled as her partner's ring snagged hold of the bottle and slid down.

"See?"

"I-I see," Elfilis agreed.

Vesa returned her gaze to the stand. She aimed the last ring in her hand and threw it, though it missed and landed next to a table corner. Elfilis threw their last ring and hit another 30 point bottle. Their girlfriend placed her hand behind her head.

"You did pretty good," she complimented.

"Thank you," Elfilis sighed in relief, "I still feel like I messed up."

By then, Elfilis had been processing on their devotion to Vesa, and how far they were willing to do anything for her. They found themself rather horrified at the disturbing patterns of thoughts of killing, destroying or any other horrific acts just for her. They weren't sure if this way of thinking was normal for them.

Vesa leaned closer to Elfilis and stroked their head with her hand, snapping them out of their thoughts.

"Wanna continue looking around?" she asked.

Elfilis gazed into her eyes.

"That sounds good," they said.

Vesa smiled before she waved her hand at the ring toss cappy.

"Have a good day, sir!" she chirped.

"You too, ma'am!" the cappy waved back.

Vesa noticed a sudden flash of light out of the corner of her eye. When she turned her gaze, Hyness tucked the camera into his pocket dimension. Elfilis couldn't help but smile at their father's antics before they gazed into their girlfriend's eyes. The rings circling their irises pulsated with faint light…almost as if they were looking into her soul. Vesa and Elfilis casually strolled through the streets, ambient sounds of laughter and the smell of freshly cooked treats wafting through the air.

To her right, Vesa noticed as Kirby, Elfilin, Fumu, Bun and Adeleine stood in line in front of a booth hosting one of the games. She checked the sign labeled "100-Yard Hop" above the booth. The small chinchilla perked up his ears and glanced behind him.

"Hey, Miss Vesa!" Elfilin called over, "come over here and check it out!"

Elfilis perked up their feelers as they turned their gaze towards their little brother. Vesa approached Elfilin with her partner following close behind.

"What is it?" she asked.

Elfilin pointed to the booth nearby.

"Kirby's going to play this cool game with Fumu, Bun and Adeleine here," Elfilin chirped, "you wanna come watch with me?"

Vesa tilted her head.

"You're not playing?" she paused.

Elfilin sighed and shrugged.

"Sorry," Elfilin admitted, "this game requires four players only."

"Oh."

Vesa locked eyes onto the booth just as Adeleine was in the middle of speaking with the cappy.

"So who's going in?" the cappy asked.

Adeleine took a moment to think. She glanced over her shoulder, noticing as Fumu, Bun and Kirby waited rather nervously.

"Let's see," Adeleine answered, "Kirby, Fumu and Bun would like to join, too!"

The cappy nodded and gestured Kirby and the cabinet minister's children to approach the booth.

"Ok," he instructed, "hold out your hands, please."

"Poyo!" Kirby nodded, holding out his arm.

Fumu, Bun and Adeleine held out their hands, allowing the cappy to place stamps on their hands. When the cappy stamped Kirby's arm, the pink puff waved his arms happily.

"Have fun, kids!" the cappy smiled.

"Thanks!" Bun waved his hand before turning towards Fumu, "come on, sis!"

Kirby and Bun raced into the field. That was when Vesa noticed three long lines made from chalk ran down the field with rows of circles filling up to four columns. Fumu and Adeleine followed after the boys and positioned just behind a line drawn perpendicular to the columns. Some circles were replaced with obstacles like water puddles, banana peels and patches of dirt.

Elfilis sat down at the edge of the street, not really having interest in the game in question.

"So, are you enjoying yourself?" they asked.

Vesa returned her glance while Elfilin perched on her shoulder.

"I'm fine watching Kirby racing with the others," she replied as she sat down next to Elfilis.

Elfilis, Vesa and Elfilin watched as Kirby, Fumu, Bun and Adeleine exchanged fierce competitive glances. The cappy hosting the booth pulled a flag from underneath and stepped out to overlook the course. The small chinchilla happily flapped his arms as his tail swayed side to side.

"Go on, Kirby!" Elfilin cheered, "you can do it!"

"The rules are simple," the cappy announced, "you can jump one space, or you can jump two spaces ahead. You need to be careful to avoid obstacles, since if you jump into an obstacle you will need to go back to the space you jumped from."

Kirby, Fumu, Bun and Adeleine readied their stance as the cappy raised the flag.

"3. 2. 1. Begin!"

The cappy swung the flag down. Kirby, Fumu, Bun and Adeleine began hopping down the makeshift track. Elfilis watched intensely as the pink puff jumped from spot to spot, leaping over obstacles and timing his jumps wisely. Fumu focused on timing her jumps while Bun didn't hesitate to jump two spaces at a time. Adeleine focused on avoiding obstacles considering Bun made the mistake of falling into a water puddle. Fumu barely managed to avoid a banana peel. While Elfilis leaned onto Vesa, she smiled as Elfilin flapped his arms with great enthusiasm.

Soon enough, Kirby reached the finish line first. Fumu came second and Adeleine finished in third place. Elfilis gazed with intense intrigue, surprised Zan Partizanne's apprentice might have supplied her stamina through her magic somehow. Bun groaned just as he crossed the finish line last. It didn't help that he was drenched from several water puddles he fell into.

"H-How did you do that?!" Bun exclaimed.

While Kirby hopped up and down happily, Adeleine and Fumu gave Bun puzzled looks. In fairness, Bun knew his sister usually preferred to sit under a tree and read books.

"Well," Adeleine complimented, "you did great, Fumu."

"Thanks," Fumu stammered, "that was…weird."

Fumu was wondering how she did it, even if she was happy she beat her own brother. Elfilin flew over to Kirby and circled around him happily.

"You did it!" Elfilin chirped, "I knew you would win!"

"Poyo!"

Adeleine and Fumu shared glances before they shook hands. All the while, Bun placed a finger on his chin.

"I guess I just need to try harder," Bun said to himself.

Kirby, Elfilin, Fumu, Bun and Adeleine left the track and met up with Vesa and Elfilis just as the two stood up.

"Can we get some food?" Bun clamored, "I'm hungry!"

"I don't see why not," Elfilis shrugged.

The angelic lancer tilted their gaze towards their girlfriend.

"What do you want to eat?" they asked her.

"I'll have a look first before I decide on anything," Vesa answered, "this way."

Vesa beckoned Kirby, Elfilin, Fumu and Bun to follow her as she and Elfilis meandered through the festive village until they stopped before a row of food stands. The Cabinet Minister's children stared in awe as they checked the signs of each food stand. Kirby and Elfilin made a beeline for the stand displaying grilled corn-on-the-cobs. Vesa browsed the stand where the cappy was grilling squid on sticks.

"Afternoon, ma'am!" the cappy smiled, "how may I help you?"

Vesa blinked twice.

"May I try out some grilled squid?" she requested.

"Of course," the cappy nodded, "one sec."

Vesa reached into her pocket bangle while the cappy offered a piece of grilled squid on a stick.

"Here you go."

"Thank you!"

Vesa exchanged some star coins before she retrieved her grilled squid. She noticed as Kirby and Elfilin were already munching down on their own grilled corn while Fumu and Bun stopped at the okonomiyaki stand. Elfilis didn't bother ordering anything as they were neither hungry nor had much of an appetite. This made sense considering their instincts to assimilate life-forms when the need arose.

Bun took a moment to examine Chef Osaka, who was in charge of the okonomiyaki stand. Apart from putting some flair into his cooking and making it look more dramatic, he was just focused on making quality food.

"Hey," Bun paused, "do I know you from somewhere, mister?"

Chef Osaka raised an eyebrow.

"I certainly don't remember you," Osaka grumbled.

Fumu cleared her throat, causing Bun to jump a little.

"Can we have some?" Fumu requested, ignoring the chef's rough attitude.

"Sure, kid," Osaka nodded, believing street food should be sold cheaply, "that'll be three coins each."

After the kids each made their payment, the famous chef whipped up two okonomiyaki before handing them to his customers.

"Thanks!" Bun chirped.

Osaka didn't say much as he went back to cooking, still grumbling softly to himself. Fumu shrugged before she and Bun strolled along and stood next to Kirby and Elfilin before they started eating. Once Vesa finished up her grilled squid, she checked her surroundings for a stall selling drinks. She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a familiar birdlike call from the distance.

It wasn't long before the quartet of birds showed up, the three fledglings managing a bit of flight on their own even if it wouldn't be long before they needed a break. Vesa tilted her gaze upwards and gasped in awe upon laying her eyes upon Dyna Blade. The gigantic bird made her slow descent to the outskirts of the village…as distant from the festival as possible. Elfilis twitched their feelers as they also observed the majestic bird watching her hatchlings join her on the ground. The cappies paused for a moment as they all caught a glimpse of Dyna Blade.

Kirby, having just finished eating his grilled corn-on-the-cob, stared ahead curiously. Many of the villagers chattered among each other in excitement.

"Uhh, Kirby?" Elfilin perked up his ears, "why's Dyna Blade here?"

Kirby locked eyes onto the small chinchilla.

"Poyo!" Kirby chirped, "poyo poyo!"

Elfilin tilted his head sideways.

"Migrating?"


Feel free to make some fanart related to this fanfic!

And leave a review so Kirby can use them to buy snacks for him and Elfilin.